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Photograph in D.C. helps N.Y. family reunite with son

FOUND IN A PHOTOGRAPH: Nicolas Simmons warms himself on a steam grate with three other homeless men by the Federal Trade Commission, just blocks from the Capitol, during frigid temperatures in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 4. A winter storm that swept across the Midwest this week blew through the Northeast on Friday, leaving bone-chilling cold in its wake. Photo: Associated Press/Jacquelyn Martin

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who disappeared from his parents’ house in a small upstate New York town on New Year’s Day has been found in the nation’s capital.

Nicholas Simmons, 20, had left behind his wallet, cell phone and everything else.

On Saturday, Associated Press photographer Jacquelyn Martin, looking for a way to illustrate unusually cold weather, snapped his picture as he warmed himself on a steam grate a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Homeless people often huddle at the grate when it’s cold out. According to police and family friends, Paul and Michelle Simmons saw the AP photograph after it was brought to their attention through a Facebook page set up to help find their son.

Capt. Patrick Phelan of the Greece, N.Y., police department says authorities picked up Simmons yesterday afternoon and took him to a hospital.

Family friends say Simmons’ father and older brother are now in Washington and were reunited with him at the hospital.